PSA: Missing piece needed to connect a mobile radio and DC power supply

[WRQV528]

I recently received a Radioddity DB25-G and a Wouxun DWC30WIN 30A DC power supply. I had assumed that I could connect both out of the box, but this is not the case.

The only cable the DWC30WIN came with was a standard power cable (IEC 60320 C13 to NEMA 5-15P if I'm being nerdy). The DB25-G unit itself has a non-removable pair of wires with an inline fuse coming out its backside that terminates with a male connector I was not familiar with, and the unit also came with a female version of that plug that has a male car cigarette lighter plug on the other end; photos of the then-mystery connectors are below. It took about 30 minutes for me to learn the name of this connector, and it appears to be called a "2-pin T connector", "Deans connector", and/or possibly something else.

I could not find a pre-made cable that was a female Deans connector to either bare wire or male banana plug to connect the two devices, so I thought I was going to have to go all-out and build one myself... and I haven't even a soldering iron. So I went around on YouTube looking at reviews of the radio, hoping to see if any of them hinted at how they connected it with a DC power supply. I struck gold with Gadget Talk's review. He did something clever: just connect a wired female cigarette lighter plug to the power supply, then use the cable that came with the radio.

So I ordered a female cigarette lighter plug to wire terminals. I'll cut off its terminals, strip its wires (I at least have a wire stripper), then screw into the power supply's terminals.

 

TL;DR: If you're buying a mobile radio and a DC power supply with the intent to power your radio from the wall, you might not have all that you need to connect the two. In the case of a DB25-G, buy a wired female cigarette lighter plug and a wire stripper.

[axorlov]

Also known as Kenwood T-connector. Solution with cigarette lighter adapter would work, but if you want to improve on it and go with more reliable connection with better current capacity, you can search amazon for "kenwood t connector". There are plenty of different variations, already on the cable or separate. You do not need a soldering iron to make a cable, you would need a crimping tool of average quality, easily found in car parts stores on in Home Depot.

[wayoverthere]

Fairly common connector in the ham and LMR world, and you can find extra harnesses with bare wires, or t connector to power pole connector fairly easily.

I made a similar connector for mine, with 12v socket on one end and power poles on the other (my alinco psu has 2x power poles on the front and binding posts on the back).

[AdmiralCochrane]

Tons of cables and loose ends of varying quality on Amazon and eBay. 

[wayoverthere]

12 hours ago, AdmiralCochrane said:

Tons of cables and loose ends of varying quality on Amazon and eBay. 

Indeed...have ended up with both ends of the spectrum. I have one from Amazon that looked like nice thick wires...nope,just kidding, it's thin wires with extra thick insulation, and the t connector doesn't even fit...for those I just hit dx engineering. (DC power cable assemblies)

The premade power poles were west mountain radio, iirc.

[WRQV528]

On 6/11/2022 at 7:09 PM, axorlov said:

Also known as Kenwood T-connector. Solution with cigarette lighter adapter would work, but if you want to improve on it and go with more reliable connection with better current capacity, you can search amazon for "kenwood t connector". There are plenty of different variations, already on the cable or separate. You do not need a soldering iron to make a cable, you would need a crimping tool of average quality, easily found in car parts stores on in Home Depot.

On 6/11/2022 at 7:23 PM, wayoverthere said:

Fairly common connector in the ham and LMR world, and you can find extra harnesses with bare wires, or t connector to power pole connector fairly easily.

I made a similar connector for mine, with 12v socket on one end and power poles on the other (my alinco psu has 2x power poles on the front and binding posts on the back).

Ah, the more you know! Thank you both, and thank you axorlov for reminding me that crimping exists (as I truly forgot). I've since ordered a pre-made Kenwood (or as the listing calls it, "T Shape Connector") to bare wire cable.

[oldtech]

I cut off all the miscellaneous connectors on my 12 volt equipment, replaced with 'power pole'. Eliminates a lot of aggravation.

[gman1971]

Yep, Powerpole is nice, XT60 works too, etc..